Finished Christmas Tags

I also managed to finish the Christmas tags before Christmas Eve. 

Once I got the right type of adhesive, I was a lot happier with the results.  Here are a few of the tags that decorated our packages...

I'm already thinking about making some for spring...

Finished Penguin Quilt

I finished the quilt the Friday before Christmas--but I've been a little busy since then.  Here is the finished quilt:

Christmas Tags

Ugh.  The last thing I needed right now was to start a new project.  Of course, I've started a new project.

While going through some of my books and magazines, I saw some really cute cards made from shipping tags.  And, since I couldn't find the gift tags, I decided to make some.

The first thing I needed was some shipping tags.  A quick stop at Office Max last night was all it took to find a package of shipping tags.

Once I got back home, I took one out and started looking at it, trying to decide what other supplies I'd need.

Soon, I was pulling out my scrapbooking supplies.  Unfortunately, it has been a while since I did any scrapbooking.  While the papers were all fine, some of the pen and glue sticks had dried out.  But, I found one glue stick that still worked.  And, away I went. 

I like the way the first two turned out for the most part...

Unfortunately, with the glue stick I used, there was a lot of warping.

Time to buy some more glue...

Penguin Quilt

A while back, I was looking for material to make a baby quilt for friends.  Specifically, I was looking for giraffes and frogs.  The first day out, I didn't find any fabric I liked...for that quilt.  But, I did find a pre-made penguin baby quilt, with matching fabric.  I managed to walk away from it that day, but later went back after I found the material for the original quilt.

When I went back, I bought the pre-made panel and enough coordinating fabric to make a decent sized bed quilt.  From the time I bought it until the time I had the top finished was less than 48 hours.  But, unfortunately, it sat for about 8 weeks.

Tuesday night, I decided to make the quilt sandwich--backing fabric, batting, and top fabric.  The backing fabric is a flat flannel sheet (with penguins, of course!) from a set that we can no longer use because the fitted sheet wore out.

Tonight, I began quilting.

I made decent progress, even though it is tough to quilt with that much fabric.  And, while the pre-made center panel is nice, it has a lot of natural puckers that I am trying to work out during the quilting process. 

Eventually, my shoulders told me it was quitting time.

I probably would have made more progress, but I lost about 45 minutes trouble shooting why the machine didn't turn on.  I eventually realized that the machine was on...the bulb is just burned out.

Finishing the Christmas Wall Hanging

Tonight, I decided to finish the Christmas wall hanging.  I like this concept:  buy the panels, sew the top, quilt it, and get a wall hanging up on the wall in time for the holiday...and all in the same year.

The wall hanging actually went together fairly well.  It took me about an hour to machine quilt it.  I am getting a lot more comfortable with machine quilting. 

Up next:  finishing a baby quilt for a friend or quilting the penguin quilt.  The baby quilt actually has a deadline, but I don't yet have the backing fabric for it.  So, it may be the penguin quilt....

Not Quite What I Had Planned

I had good intentions to finish the Christmas wall hanging tonight.  I really did.

I got side tracked.

When we were rearranging things before putting up the Christmas tree this afternoon, I ran across the paintings on fabric that Geff had done this summer.

Tonight, instead of working on the Christmas wall hanging as I should have, I decided to work on one of the paintings.

I had already started on the tree on the left when I ran out of ideas this past summer.

This time, I started by giving some definitions to the mountain range.

Then, I added some definition to the tree trunks.

And, finally, started working on the tree on the right.  Unfortunately, my shoulders were telling me that I'm out of practice, so I'll have to pick up from here another night.

Christmas Wall Hanging

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

While cleaning up around the sewing table before guests arrived, I ran across a Christmas panel that I had purchased a month or two ago...and had completely forgotten about.

I liked it as much when I uncovered it on the sewing table as I had when I first saw it.  Basically, "The Night Before Christmas" in a redwork print.

Last night, after the guests had left and the dinner clean up was done, I decided to take it out again. 

My initial reaction was to create a wall hanging from the large portion, and then create pillows from the two smaller images.  The first is Santa in his sleigh.

The second is an old fashioned "Merry Christmas."

I was still thinking along these lines when I entered into the craft room in search of corresponding fabric.  I quickly found the perfect fabrics:  a dark green and a cream.

Last night, I put a green border around the large image.  Fortunately, I decided to put it away for the night.  When I started working on it today, I decided that I needed to work in the other two images. I started working up an elaborate design.  After the second sketch, I remembered the purpose of this blog:  to finish projects.

With that in mind, I slimmed down the design, found some corresponding fabric on the sewing table, and before I knew it, I had a finished wall hanging top.

I bought some backing fabric, and once I pre-wash it, I'll quilt it and have another finished project.  It isn't nearly as fancy as it was going to be, but it will be great to have it up on the wall before Christmas 2015!

Far Too Long Since My Last Post

It has been far too long since my last post.  I finally finished the last of the 30+ Christmas stockings.

Last weekend, the Christmas stockings made their debut at the Longmont Elks Craft Fair.  We didn't sell any of the stockings, but it was a very successful event for us.  I'm going to have to make some more pot holders!

Plus, it was a lot of fun!

Tonight, I started working on some more Christmas cards.  I should have enough for this year, but I need something to replace working on the Christmas stockings.

Here are the way they are looking right now...

Christmas Stocking Ornaments Part 3

I have to admit that I am ready for a new project.  However, I don't want the remaining stockings to join the stacks of unfinished projects in the craft room. 

The thought briefly crossed my mind that if they happened to land in the trash when I was cleaning up the loft, I wouldn't have to finish them nor would they wind up on the unfinished projects list.  I couldn't do it.  I have four left to stuff, nine left to sew shut, and eight left to do the final decorating on.

Hmmm, that is almost depressing.

On the plus side, though, tonight I managed to finish seven more ornaments.

I truly am having fun adding the bling.

Although, I think I had even more fun shopping for new bling...but that is a whole different story!

Christmas Stocking Ornaments Part 2

This is part 2 of the Christmas stocking ornaments.

I now have, oh, almost 25 ornaments in various stages of completion.  I definitely went overboard.  Just a little.

Once the stockings were turned inside out, it was time to start stuffing.  Once again, the small opening made it a bit difficult.

And, the general shape of the ornament also made it a fun challenge to stuff...

Between the small opening and the heel area, stuffing the toe meant pulling out the same tool I used to help turn the ornament right-side out.

Eventually, though, I did get the stocking stuffed.  I was surprised at how much stuffing each stocking actually took.

Once stuffed, it was time to start hand sewing. 

After a couple of attempts, I finally settled on a way to sew the top shut while adding the loop. 

As an aside, the first one I made, I didn't think about putting in the loop to hang until I was almost finished decorating the stocking.  That approach definitely did not work.

The approach that did work was to choose the trim that I wanted to use for the loop, which for this particular ornament was a bit of gold elastic.  Once again, each ornament is unique--I didn't use any particular measurement for the loop.  Instead, I just put the trim in the shape I wanted, added about a half inch, and cut.  Once cut, I knotted the ends.

After getting the cord ready, I made sure that the raw edges were tucked into the stocking.  Then, I placed the knotted end into the top of the stocking.

And, then I started sewing, being really careful to put a lot of stitches around the cord, including in between the two cord ends.  I definitely don't want the cord to slip out of the stocking.  The finished edge is kind of flat, but it will get covered up.

Next, I selected the trim, cut it to fit, and sewed it on. 

I can either leave it like this or add beads or other findings.

Christmas Stocking Ornaments

I hadn't realized that it had been so long since my last posting.  My crafting has been scattered and unfocused this past month, which is most likely the reason for the lack of posts.  I've done some crocheting, put together a quick quilt top, worked on some luminaries, and most recently, worked on a bunch of Christmas ornaments for our Etsy shop.

While working on the Christmas ornaments, I've taken some photos along the way, and tonight I'm taking a break from sewing the ornaments to list some on our Etsy shop and start working on the blog again.

The Christmas ornaments that I am working on right now are small stuffed Christmas stockings, like the one here on the right.

I'm not entirely sure what started me on this kick, but I have definitely had fun with it.  Each ornament is completely unique. 

I start each one by placing the right side of the fabric together (and so that I don't waste fabric), I've been ironing a crease about 3 inches from the edge of the fabric.

Once the right sides were together, I free-handed the sewing lines for each stocking on the back side of the fabric.

Hmmm, note to self:  using black fabric was probably not a great idea for the photos!

I tended to draw four or five stockings in a row, and I reversed them so that I would save a little bit of fabric.

Once drawn, I started sewing along the lines that I had drawn.

 Eventually, I had a whole row of little sewn stockings:

Once I had a row of stockings, I cut about an eighth of an inch from the sewing line.  I soon had a whole stack of stockings!

I may have gone a bit overboard...

Next came the fun of trying to turn these right-side out. 

Fortunately, I learned from making the birds and pulled out the right tool for the job...

I soon had a whole stack turned right-side out.

Up next:  finishing the stockings.

Relaxing with the sewing machine

Tonight was about relaxing with the sewing machine.  And, finishing some note cards.

I have probably a dozen, maybe two dozen, cards in progress around the house.  There are times when I get in the mood to assemble the cards.  Sewing them, though, is a more time consuming process.  Fortunately, tonight I was into sewing and completing.

I started off by finishing the outlining on the following two cards.

Once that was done, I attached these two cards, along with the chili peppers and patriotic card (both created in June/July), to their note cards.  Four mini-projects completely finished!

Fortunately, I still felt like sewing, so I worked on a frog card and an angel card.  I started off working on the frog.  I finished outlining it and zigzagging around the outside edge.  Then, I set it aside.  It seems like there is something missing.  I'm considering doing a three dimensional leaf on it, but I need to figure out how to create the three dimensional leaf in such a way that it looks like it belongs to the card.  This challenge may take a while.

I'm having fun with the angel.  I had already outlined the halo and wings with gold thread.  Tonight, I outlined the arms and the dress.  I still need to do the drum, the hair and the face.  But, I decided that I needed a break.

Last night, I sewed a little bit, but mainly I worked on ironing Geff's latest paintings.

And, the second one:

I am looking forward to embellishing these two!

Two completed projects? Yes!

Somehow, in spite of myself, I managed to finish two projects.

The first finished project is the art quilt.

It needs a different frame, but the quilting is now complete on it.  And, this frame will serve the purpose until I can find the right frame.

I'm happy with the way it turned out.  Sewing it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be.  I can't wait to do the next one!

The second completed was the first of Geff's paintings.  It is now finished and ready for framing as well.

The sewing is complete.   It is bound, and I added some beads for a bit of glitter.

Still learning

I know I shouldn't be, but I'm always amazed by how much I learn when I try a new technique.

I wasn't fully happy with the way the grass was turning out.  After listening to Geff's suggestion, I reworked the grass.  It was a definite improvement!

I added in some sand along the river, worked with the rocks a bit, and added some silver highlights to the river.

Next up will be some beads.  Then, I'll finish off the edges and figure out which frame to put it in.

What can possibly be better than a shared hobby with your spouse?